Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Abusive North Harringay parent: shouting at cyclist and parking illegally
Regular poster here. Have name changed for security reasons.
I was cycling along Falkland Rd this morning just before 9am, leaving enough room between myself and the line of parked cars on the left so that if someone opened a car door I wouldn’t get knocked over. (Before someone comes on this thread and castigates me for selfishness, this is the way cyclists are supposed to position themselves safely on a road where there are parked cars and the risk of getting ‘doored’. It’s how I was taught by the council-approved cycle trainers, and is completely legal.)
When there was a break in the parked cars I pulled over to the left to let the few cars behind me go overtake me. One of the drivers pulled up alongside me, leaned over the passenger seat, and proceeded to shout abuse: I shouldn’t be on the road, I should be on the footpath (!), how dare I make him late etc. I told him that I had exactly the same right to be on the road as a car. He sped off and I saw him park up outside North Harringay Primary to drop his daughter off, illegally parking on the yellow lines.
I got a picture of his registration plate and the fact he was parked on yellow lines. When he came back to his car and saw I had taken his picture I got another earful of abuse before he sped off. If anyone feels they may know this man then I’d like to know his details. Motorists who genuinely believe that cyclists don’t have the right to be on the road put all cyclists in danger, and those who park illegally outside schools precisely where they’re not supposed to put children in danger as well.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Sounds horrible and I'm glad you're taking it up.
On a slightly different issue, is the catchment area for north Harringay school geographically large? I ask because except for cases where the parent or child has mobility issues I can't understand why they need to drive there.
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Permalink Reply by Angela on
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Because they might need to drive to their work place? And younger children cannot be trusted to walk alone to school?
This incident happened at just before 9am according to CK. The parent was therefore late taking their child to school.
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Michael you make a really good point and notwithstanding Angelas point that the parent may be dropping off on the way to work the max distance of pupils fron North Harringay School in 2015 was just 0.35miles and for South Harringay was 0.23 miles. http://www.haringey.gov.uk/sites/haringeygovuk/files/distance_of_la...
So if the standard pace of walking is 15 minutes to walk 1 mile then all children live within a walking distance of 5 minutes from school and the majority live closer than that.
I reckon that it is quicker to walk that distance to school than drive up and down the ladder, being held up by traffic in Green Lanes or roadworks on Whightman Road.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle on
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You are correct that the catchment area is very small and walkable but that is only for children entering at reception. There is no catchment area for entry in to the school in the other years where, due to the transient nature of people in the area when there are spaces within classes higher up in the school children can come from anywhere within Haringey.
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All the class years are full with waiting lists. Any places that become free are allocated in exactly the same way as Reception year admissions. But there are many children with split home lives. And many children move out of the area without relinquishing their school place and then get places for their siblings. At least, hopefully, that practice will stop as per the new school admissions consultation.
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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I just read that the council decided against implementing the policy of removing sibling priority. They felt that it would negatively impact the most vulnerable families, those who are forced to move by landlords or from temporary accommodation. Also they said there are some places in reception in Crouch End and Muswell Hill so the new rule isn't necessary.
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Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
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Good on you for reporting him, first and foremost he abused you, for no good reason. Sounds like a bully and likely to be using this kind of behaviour on other cyclists. I always take the primary position on the ladder since a close pass by a car who squeezed through the tiniest of gaps at speed, which was scary to say the least. After that incident im not taking any chances, in fact tonight I had someone right behind me all the way down Sydney road obviously trying to intimidate but I maintained the primary. Cyclists have as much right to use the roads as car drivers. I hope they he gets a stern talking to, at the very least by the head of the school.
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I would go along with that. Life's too short to let people get to you.
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Permalink Reply by warren miller on
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You can request drivers info if you have 'reasonable cause'
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Permalink Reply by CK on
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Thanks very much for the DVLA driver request link, which I didn't know existed, and also for the Haringey Parking enforcement address. Have used both. Also realised that my picture of his car actually includes him in it, so I might send a few direct messages to a few of the folks on this thread in the hopes of tracking him down that way.
Surprised to hear people telling me to chill out. Like everybody in London I meet plenty of people who are clearly having a bad day, and like everybody I cut them slack. I can cope with someone shouting abuse at me, but this particular person needs to be brought to account, because he is under the erroneous - and dangerous - impression that a) cyclists are not legitimate road users, and b) the parking laws outside schools do not apply to him. I'm not revenging myself on him: I'm trying to stop him from hurting other cyclists and children outside that school.
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You don't need to chill out, good on you for following it up. Haringey is populated by entitled morons driving their vehicles at other road users like their lives don't matter. The police won't do anything, maybe the school will.
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Agreed, as soon as I enter N15/ N7/N4 road space (after having cycled across from W London) I have to be twice as cautious for lunatic entitled drivers, who think cyclists are second class citizens.
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